Hey Neighbor part 14
A/N Thank you all for the continued support as I have been on hiatus due to some mental health issues. it means the world. As a thanks I'm posting this quick chapter. it's short, but I hope it whets your appetite a bit as I get back into writing more regularly.
Leave a like on AO3
Chapter 14
“Are you sure you are alright?” Shiu repeats the question for the tenth time. And for the tenth time, you nod as you sit on your couch, nursing a glass of water he had offered you after you had come to.
Bits and pieces of what had led up to your collapse start to clear up in your mind: Connor coming to your house, seeming to wish to overpower you in some way with his words, Shiu aiming a gun at his head. Why Connor had come to your house, you still didn’t know.
Shiu registers the confusion on your face, that you are lost in thought, and attempts to reel you back to reality. “I got your voicemail. I’m sorry I didn’t answer. I was on my way to the airport with Toji and I—”
“Is he here? Is he ok?” you blurt out, hoping that somehow Toji was still within the area. Safe.
“He’s on a business trip, dear. But he’s fine,” Shiu assures.
You slump your shoulder, disappointed. You wish he were here. Both for protection and support. You wish it could go back to what is what before this stupid letter got passed to you. Oblivious to the double life Toji–and your grandmother– were living, enjoying his company and Megumi’s sweet voice greeting you—
“Where’s Megumi?!” you gasp. You have been so entangled with your drama and Toji that you forgot about Megumi. You don’t remember seeing him the night before when Toji had come by and you don’t remember seeing him in the car this morning with him and Shiu. Dread shivers down your spine along with guilt.
Shiu lifts a hand to settle you, “He is fine as well. Up at my estate within the community, doing his school work well, though he doesn’t like the other children there. Claims they aren’t fun and ‘clean’” He chuckles. “Living outside our network has turned him into a regular kid I guess.”
“You sound disappointed that he wants to be a normal kid,” you murmur.
“He wasn’t meant to be regular. He’s the son of one the most notorious assassins’ of the past 2 decades.” And there it was. That word: assassin . The deadly weight that comes with such a title causes you to cower more on the couch.
“So you want him to…” you refuse to finish the sentence. To connect that sweet, innocent boy with such a harsh word.
“It doesn’t matter what I want,” Shiu huffs a breath, a defeated look on his face.
“What does Toji want?”
He sighs and drags a hand down his face. “Toji wants him to be an ordinary child with an ordinary childhood and ordinary ambitions.”
“So? Seems like a safe and happy childhood”
“He would be safer within the Society walls.” Shiu snaps.
“What the fuck is this society you all keep saying?” you snap back. “Are you running some sort of cult raising child killers?”
“The Society of Keres has been a home for some of the most infamous killers and spies in history. We are a family of honor and duty to carry on the bloodline.”
“Sounds like a cult.” you snark.
“We don’t rely on religion nor do we promise a glorious afterlife. It’s not something one can join or be recruited for. All of which a cult uses to amass its followers.”
“Where does Toji fit it there? And my grandmother?” you pause as a more daunting question bubbles up. “Where the fuck do I fit into all of this?”
Shiu shakes his head, sighing, then joins you on the couch. “Might take a while.”
“I got time.” Finally, some answers.
“In that case,” Shiu pops a cigarette into his mouth. “May I smoke?
10 cigarettes later, Shiu finally stubs out the last in his pack. The sun has fallen behind the trees, leaving the living room in a golden glow.
“So, my grandmother left the Society and they killed my parents in return? Why did they never tell me? My dad at least? Did my mom ever know?” you couldn’t stop the onslaught of new questions.
Shiu holds up his hands, signaling for you to slow down. “Your father ran away from the Society after he met your mother at 19. Both were desperate to run away from the Society. They escaped, hid, and had you. He sent letters to your grandmother and pictures. I assume it saddened her to be aging alone without her family. She fought to leave, attempting what she thought was a safer route and asking permission to resign, the high-ups warned her it was a betrayal, but she didn’t care.
“Your parents were a unique pair. Your father excelled at executions while your mother was intelligent and could hack the most sophisticated computers and infiltrate security cameras in record time. With those strengths, they were able to reenter and retrieve your grandmother. She hid well,” he looks around the house, then sighs. “Sadly, as time went on and better methods of locating people came in, she was found, and as you know, after leaving here on Christmas they..--”
You hold up your hand, “I get it.”
Not really. But the amount of information was becoming overwhelming. It all boiled down to 3 points.
Your parents had also belonged to this circus
Them along with your grandmother, escaped.
The death of your parents was in retaliation.
“Why didn’t they just kill her?” you ask.
“They sent someone to do it, but—” Shiu looks at his clasped hands. Waiting for a beat before continuing. “As he said, he couldn’t kill someone that was like his own mother. He himself had lost his parents young, basically orphaned. Your grandmother took him in, taught him—”
“Wow, what a fucking saint,” you clip sarcastically. “Don’t start trying to make me feel sympathy for some bloodthirsty piece of shit sent to my grandmother's doorstep.”
“That bloodthirsty piece of shit has been protecting you ever since you moved in,” Shiu shouts. The sound echoed through the room.
“Toji– he was,” you sputter as the realization finally hits you.
“Sent to kill your grandmother, yes.” he finishes.